Addenda

Savannah: we heard about a chocolate place that sounded like it might be comparable to our beloved French Broad Chocolate Lounge. We stuck our heads in to Lulu's Chocolate Bar but it wasn't even close, so we left. We are spoiled and happily so.

Charleston: In search of snacks, I did find something called the Benne Wafer in amongst the tourist tat. These tasty little sesame discs seemed like a good, if not tremendously healthy, nibble for us. The historic aspect (supposedly the slaves brought benne or sesame seeds with them though I don't recall them being given a luggage allowance on the slave ships) would surely make up for sugar being the first ingredient. I discovered too late that egg whites are also a major ingredient, so no benne wafers for Jim. Had to eat them all myself....

I guess I was hungrier than I thought. In my quest for substantial snacks, I not only loaded up on benne wafers but I bought four pounds of rice. As it was uncooked rice, it really didn't help me at the moment (and the added weight didn't make the search more fun) but I needed CPR. No, not that kind of CPR. This is Carolina Plantation Rice. Back in Colonial times, South Carolina was all about the rice but that crop had disappeared from our southern neighbor's shores by the 20th century. There is one place in SC that is growing the heirloom Carolina Gold rice again commercially. I picked up two pounds each of the gold and the aromatic. Can't wait to try it out and see how much more flavorful it is than good old Mahatma brand.

There's also a tea plantation that is the only one of its kind in the US. I didn't get there nor did I buy their tea. I think I need to visit and do a taste test before I sully my tea shelf with anything other than Typhoo. Still, I'm a big fan of people who are trying to revive crops that once were in abundance here and now are micro niches.

Charleston

We enjoyed a leisurely drive up to Charleston, SC from Savannah, GA arriving around two in the afternoon.  That was just enough time to get Jim settled in and dressed for his conference. While he went about his work, I struck out in search of a healthy nibble to tide me over until dinner. I thought the historic Charleston market--just a block away from our hotel--would be my best bet. Unfortunately, unless I wanted a soft pretzel or to gnaw on one of the ubiquitous sweetgrass baskets, I was out of luck.

I don't have a high tolerance for tourist tat (nor tourists unless they're playing baseball in Asheville) and I found myself getting grumpier and grumpier as I raced past stall after stall with cutsie placards and cheap leathergoods. The 90+ degree heat plus coastal humidity wasn't helping my mood. I decided to look at the restaurants lining the streets around the market but everything required a major investment of time and money. Plus, it all seemed to be very big heavy surf & turf type eating (or the hopelessly kitschy e.g., A.W. Shucks oyster bar). I was about to give up when I spied a not-very-promising cafe tucked in next to the Sunglass Hut. Despite having all the charm of a convenience store, Cafe Paradiso saved me. This deli and hookah bar had the most delicious falafel and pistachio bird's nest. If only I'd had room for the baklava and a turkish coffee. Thank god for immigrants!

While Jim attended an early evening reception, I scoured the internet and the phone book for possible dinner options. Very slim pickings on happycow.net. There are a few veggie places but many were either not open for dinner, not open Sunday or Monday, or were too far away. Even then, they didn't look too promising for a proper sit-down meal.  We settled on Taste of India, a passable north Indian restaurant where the food had the potential to be fabulous but if the service was any indication, the cooks weren't really motivated to try.

The next day, I went in search of coffee and a light breakfast. Again, not to be found near the hotel. I settled for some bad coffee and a cheap breakfast at a little diner. Does Charleston have any local coffee shops? No matter. My adventure for the day would more than make up for a little bad coffee. I was off to Middleton Place, an historic plantation. Typically, I have no interest in plantations, but this one is special because it has water buffalo. For years, many people thought that water buffalo first came to the US in the 1970s when a herd was brought to FL to help control the aquatic vegetation that was clogging the waterways. Middleton Place, however, found historic documents which show that water buffalo were used on this rice plantation in the 1860s. As part of their effort to restock the plantation with historically-accurate livestock, they brought a pair of buffalo to Middleton two years ago. The two bulls are now four years old and are being trained as draft animals.

If I recall correctly, Adam is the black one and Burke is the white one. I had been told to expect Burke to be the friendlier of the two. Apparently Adam has not been terribly social, but they say he's getting better now that he's being handled frequently. I made nice with both of them and felt more than a little proud that Adam came up to me twice and gave me a thorough licking. Maybe I still had the smell of water buffalo on me or maybe I hung around there so long that I seemed like a giant salt lick. Either way, it was fun to see buffs that are so much bigger than mine. These fellas weigh 1600 pounds a piece and are expected to get up to 1800 pounds by the time they're six.

I even caught Burke rolling over when he thought no one was looking. Middleton does a nice job of trying to show the working side of a plantation with a lot of emphasis on the realities of slavery and slave life. No southern belles wandering around in hoop skirts at this place. I got to speak with several of the staff and learned a lot more about how rice was grown and about the history of the water buffalo. The original buffalo were from Turkey, though it's unclear from the records whether they were brought directly from Turkey or from a doctor elsewhere in SC who apparently also had water buffalo in the 1850s. Either way, much of the herd was slaughtered by Union troops during the Civil War. The few remaining buffalo ended up in the Central Park Zoo in NY.

In addition to the buffs, they have goats (Nubian and Cashmere), Guinea hogs (not to be confused with guinea pigs or guinea hens), draft horses, sheep, ducks, chickens and one of the prettiest milk cows I've ever seen. Beyond the stables, they have craft demonstrations such as blacksmithing and pottery. I enjoyed looking at many of the tools and implements on display. Anyone care to guess what this was used for?

They're also working on expanding their vegetable gardens which are dwarfed in comparison to their extensive formal English garden. I found the veggie side much more interesting. They also had an indigo plant (from whence the dye comes) and the largest ginko tree I've ever seen.

All in all, a great day out. Since Jim had been cooped up all day working, we struck out on foot for dinner. Finally, we found our kind of restaurant: cozy, friendly, neighborhood-y, and loaded with great food options for us both. Five Loaves Cafe was a lifesaver! We were so hungry and so happy to be there that we probably ordered too fast. The name, the images of winged soup bowls on the walls, and a specials board with at least five soups should have tipped us off that this place is known for its soup. Too late. We'd already ordered enough food to feed four people. Not that we realized this until the appetizers arrived. My plate of goat cheese gnocchi with golden raisins and balsamic reduction was big enough to feed me for two meals. But it was so good--gnocchi perfectly al dente and the rich goat cheese sauce spiked with just enough tart balsamic and sweet raisins to make it sing--that I couldn't restrain myself. Jim devoured his Greek quesadilla with equal alacrity. We knew we were in trouble but bravely forged ahead.

I barely remember the entrees, but I know mine was a lovely Corvina filet and I believe fennel was involved (I'm always a sucker for fennel). Jim had a great veggie stir fry with tofu. Neither of us expected to finish but we came awfully close. Thankfully, there was no room left for the incredibly tempting desserts. Five Loaves made us feel so at home, we didn't want to leave. But we waddled home (that 30 minute walk was even more necessary after all that) contented.

Before we left town Tuesday morning, we had one more stop to make. We have long wanted to visit the Hominy Grill as it is owned by the brother/brother-in-law of the fine folks who own the Early Girl Eatery in Asheville. Hominy Grill has a stellar reputation but since we didn't see many veggie options on the dinner menu (quite the opposite of Early Girl), we decided to swing by for breakfast. And we were not disappointed. Again, about a 30 minute walk from the Doubletree Hotel in the historic district, Hominy is in a great old building with the pressed tin ceilings which always make us smile. The service was charming and the food was outstanding. The ginger pumpkin quickbread was just as good as Early Girl's. And we finally found good coffee. Apparently, Counter Culture makes a special blend for Hominy Grill. After adding cream and sugar, it tasted like coffee ice cream.  Mmmmmmmmm.

So, Charleston was a foodie challenge, but in the end we found a couple of places we'd happily return to again and again.

Savannah

Looks like I need to get a few posts in if I'm going to keep to my five-a-month streak going. We've been traveling quite a bit this month and searching for good food on the road reminded me about one of the original inspirations for this blog: the difficulty in finding restaurants that cater equally well to vegetarians and omnivores.

Since Jim had to be in Charleston, SC on a Sunday for a conference, we decided to make a weekend of it. We started in our favorite southern city, Savannah, GA. Savannah has been our preferred romantic getaway ever since we lived in Atlanta. Its gorgeous architecture, walkable historic squares, and quirky sensibility makes it the perfect place to park the car and amble away the days.

We had no particular agenda other than to relax, so we simply ate and drank our way through Savannah at the leisurely pace that the heat and humidity demanded. Thanks to Jim's many nights on the road this year, we were able to score a room on points at the Bohemian. Intrigued by what we'd heard about this chain of boutique hotels (the newly-opened Grand Bohemian in Asheville looks quite swish and over-the-top with its hunting lodge theme), we were not disappointed. At least with the service and decor. The hotel has gone to great lengths to ensure that its rooms and furnishings do not in any way remind one of the standard hotel. The room was huge and well-appointed, including big comfy leather chairs in which to lounge while speculating about the authenticity of the snakeskin desk chair and the fur throw on the bed. They may want to consider permanently installing an IT guy in the room to help with the unnecessarily complex tv/internet system. Also, some popcorn to drop on the way to the bathroom so one can find one's way back would have been good.

The chandelier over the bed--with its "are those bones or shells?" look--could have precipitated any number of nightmares but thanks to the endless stream of drunken revelers on the street below, we didn't approach REM stage long enough to find out. Not the hotel's fault, really. Staying near the river in Savannah is a bit like staying near Rush Street in Chicago--definitely not for the early birds. We will try a sister hotel on one of the squares next time. And lest you think we didn't enjoy our stay, let me say that the comfy bed and entertainment value of the decor largely made up for the flaws.

Friday night, we ate at the Firefly Cafe. This small restaurant, tucked in the basement of a building off of the main drag, has always charmed us more than it should. There's something about the location and atmosphere that, while not fancy, just appeal to us. Maybe it was the warm glow of the lights beckoning to us on some cold, rainy night when we were desperate for food, but whatever the association, it has stuck. The food isn't cheap (few things in Savannah are), but it is good. The vegetarian options are rarely as protein-packed as we normally seek, but they always make Jim happy, nonetheless.

We began our Saturday at our favorite coffee shop.

Not only does the Sentient Bean have the best coffee in Savannah, it also has great vegetarian food. Jim was able to start the day with a tofu-packed breakfast burrito while I enjoyed a worthy granola with yogurt (minor complaint: the otherwise large and lovely blueberries were just a tad shy of being thoroughly thawed). The shop is next door to a natural foods store which we have used before as an emergency source of healthy food for Jim.

There was much activity in the park on this day, so as we left the Bean, we wandered through the Saturday farmer's market:

Not only was it different from most of the farmer's markets we attend in that there was Spanish Moss dripping from every tree, but we noticed a high percentage of African-American farmers selling everything from fresh produce to gourmet pasta. A bit further down in the park, they were setting up lots of booths for the Pride festival. Again, it was unusual to see a Pride event in September rather than June, but given the weather, I can understand why--it was schvitzy enough by 11am to make us attentive to which side of the street had shade. We were intrigued to see that the Log Cabin Republicans had a booth among others.

After a much-needed stop for lemonade, we made our way to Zunzi's--a hole-in-the-wall South African takeout and catering place. Originally, we were going to stop here for lunch but with a late breakfast and saving room for afternoon tea, it seemed unwise. But I just couldn't pass up the rare chance to have boerewors. Jim wisely passed on food (they do have vegetarian options including falafel) but I got an appetizer portion of boerewors with gravy over mashed potatoes. We sat on a park bench in a lovely square while I did my best to devour the incredibly generous portion of the spicy South African sausage that tastes like none other.

We strolled some more squares thinking we'd hit the Gryphon tea room late in the afternoon and call it an early dinner, but as a big storm approached about 3pm, we decided not to wait for high tea at 4pm. We made it in just as the skies opened up. This time Jim ate while I enjoyed a nice pot of tea and a scone. Thanks to a great window seat, we watched the soggy tourists, SCAD students, and horses go by from our dry perch. The Gryphon is one of the gazillions of beautiful old buildings owned and restored by the Savannah College of Art and Design. The school and its denizens have much to do with why we enjoy this town as much as we do--great architecture and great people watching.

The rest of the day was spent dodging bands of rain from the remnants of Hurricane Hermine. We got out of the Gryphon in time to wander over to Molly MacPherson's--home to 150 single-malt Scotch whiskies--before the next deluge. I finally got to try the Compass Box Peat Monster for which I'd been searching. It was one of the nicest, most balanced single malts I've had despite the extreme name. Jim tried more than I can recall but none beat the Peat Monster. Molly's scotch eggs left something to be desired (namely the sausage which was largely MIA), but we have to give major props to any place that offers flights of Scotch whisky.

Although we were tired enough for bed at 10pm, we realized we both needed a bit more nutrition, so we took advantage of the proximity of another one of our old haunts, the Blue Moon Brewing Company directly across from our hotel. Decent beer (it seemed better before we had so many good craft brewing options) but good vegetarian options for Jim and a surprisingly tasty cheese and leek tart appetizer (served with a generous portion of lentils) for me fit the bill.

In the morning, we hit Gallery Espresso for breakfast. The atmosphere is great as are the pastries, but sadly the coffee is not quite up to par. Not terrible, but not as good as the Bean. So, we checked out of the Bohemian, hopped in the truck, and headed back to the bean for road coffee. Next up: Charleston.

Thai Basil Ice Cream

Now that summer is drawing to a close, it's time to give an update on ice cream. I didn't get to as many experimental flavors as I had hoped (it takes a while to devour each batch) but there was much good, cold fun nonetheless.

First up was peach ice cream made with fresh peaches from neighbors Brian and Gina's tree. There was a week where I was purely peachy--pork chops with peaches, peach and brie baguette sandwiches, peach ice cream, and loads of fresh peaches eaten over the sink with juice dribbling down my chin. The peach ice cream was good despite being a bit more crystallized than the other ice creams. I suspect the lack of any alcohol in it was to blame. Next time I'll add a few teaspoons of some liqueur to correct the problem, but the taste of the fresh peaches more than made up for the texture issue.

The best ice cream, however, was the one that I dreamed up after reading a blog post on The Unfussy Epicure. Her recipe for Basil ice cream with tomato jam gave me the idea for using the thai basil that smelled so wonderful in the garden but rarely got incorporated into my meals this summer. Thai basil ice cream was a huge success! In fairness, it is partly because the recipe includes eggs, making it more of a custard than a traditional ice cream. Still, the flavor was all thai basil. And the lovely green color came naturally.

The only variations from Kristin's recipe were a doubling of the amount of leaves (just 'cause I had so many) and the addition of a couple of teaspoons of Canton ginger liqueur in the last five minutes of processing to prevent ice crystals. I still can't believe how well this turned out. It is so rich, it seems hardly possible that it's homemade. I'm glad the recipe didn't make very much because I could eat way too much of this herby wonder.

The Hissing of Summer Lawns

Last weekend, I was showing our farmsitter, Beth, what needed to be done to take care of our buffs when she spotted this running along the ground:

Click on the pic for a closer look. It's a red velvet ant, a.k.a. the cow killer. This is probably one of the prettiest insects around but it's also quite dangerous. While its name is inaccurate--it's a wingless wasp, not an ant--its reputation is apparently quite well deserved. The sting will not kill you but it is said to be so painful that you will wish you were dead. Fortunately, these beautiful creatures are quite shy and will only sting if you step on them or try to pick them up.

I have seen one or two of these before for just a brief second or two. They're very adept at going to ground quickly when spotted. The picture doesn't do justice to the intensely beautiful orange-red color and the velvet-like texture (judging from looks only) of their hairs. It would be very tempting to touch one if the consequences weren't so dire. Red velvet ants like sandy soil and here on Sandy Mush Creek, we've got plenty of it, so if you come for a visit, we definitely recommend keeping your shoes on when you're outside.

The next morning, I went out to take water to the buffalo, reached down to grab the black metal handle of my garden cart, and gave a small black snake a big surprise. Actually, it was a mutual surprise. I swear I heard the snake say "ACK!" just as I did. The little snake couldn't have been more than 14 or 15 inches long and was very skinny. I thought it might be one of the young black rat snakes. Perhaps it was using the handle as camoflauge.

I think I'm going to start calling Old Creaky the snake tree because this happened under the same tree where we had our snake-on-snake violence. A week or so ago, I also found this under the tree:

Yup, it's a snake egg. It had a hole in it out of which was poking a bit of fetal snake. It clearly wasn't in good shape and when I opened up the egg, it was obvious that the snake-to-be was not to be. I began to wonder if the king snake in the tree was a mama snake and she booted this one out when it was clear that it wouldn't develop properly. Or was it stolen? I don't know enough about how snakes care for their eggs or not to make an educated guess.

So, back to my little snake. It slithered off toward the mimosa tree and I went on with my morning. That afternoon when I was mowing the lawn near the well house, the little snake darted out in front of the mower. I turned off the blades and watched the snake stop just a couple of feet away. I waited for it to move, so I could continue without worrying about harming it. It reared up a bit and then I noticed--it was just about to finish eating another small snake!

Now I'm wondering if this was a young king snake that made a food run over to the well house where I know we have rat snakes. It's that or it was preying on a sibling. I felt less kindly towards it at this stage but no sense in losing two snakes in one day. I went and mowed in another area for a bit to give this reptilian gourmand a chance to relocate. Fortunately, it disappeared--into the snake tree, no doubt--and I finished my mowing of the yard.

Then, it was off to the driveway portion of the mowing (our gravel driveway has a grassy strip in the middle). Sure enough, as I got up towards the big barn, our biggest rat snake, King Rizzo, was crossing the driveway. I backed up to give him room to run and he eventually returned to the ditch from which he'd come. After I passed up and back, I looked back to see him attempt the crossing again. As he headed toward the barn, I noted that he, too, had recently dined as evidenced by a large, rodent-shaped bulge in his belly. Do snakes have bellies? No matter. You know what I mean. Made me think of the elephant inside the snake in Le Petit Prince.

Anyone up for a picnic at our place?????

Zucchini Mystery

OK, all you gardeners, botanists, and horticultural types. Anyone have any idea why I'm getting albino zucchini?

This plant, one of several plant starts that I got from a local nursery, has produced several nearly white zucchini. They have just the faintest hint of green about them. None of the other plants have done this. What's especially odd is that the plant alternates between one of these and one classic dark green zuke. The zukes are structurally perfect (best of any of the plants this summer) and taste fine. I have my doubts about the soil as this is the one I planted in an old tire in the soil that was there when we moved in and I didn't add any amendments. Still, since the plant is alternating, I'm wondering if it's just some genetic anomaly. Thoughts?

Pests

It's always fun to show off what goes well in the garden--

like these edamame-- or what we think will go well like the amish paste tomatoes below:

But at this time of year, it seems only fair to talk about what isn't going well. And that has all to do with pests. I have just about given up on the squash and zucchini as most of the plants have been devastated by squash vine borers with a few other (potato?) bugs adding insult to injury. Early in the season I was able to squish most of the bugs by hand, but now there are too many and I can't get at the ones inside the stems (I think I'll try injecting Bt with a hypodermic needle next year).

Bean beetles attacked the edamame tho' they didn't get most of the crop. The most interesting pests this year, however, were these guys:

Longtime gardeners may recognize these as tobacco hornworms. If they weren't so devastating in how quickly they can strip a plant of its leaves, they'd be worth keeping around for pure entertainment value. I found their markings quite beautiful--even their strangely geometric poop (a bit like a bright green grenade) was interesting when fresh--until I saw how much of my already blight-stressed tomato plants they had eaten. The little buggers had even gnawed on a few tomatoes. Unforgiveable. These two were put out for birds to eat after I snapped a few more pix.

Every other week since then, I've found one or two on the tomatoes. Death has been swift but messy. Too big to squish without squeamishness, I have opted for a quick snip with the kitchen shears. Then, this lady showed up:

Well, I assume it's a she since it appears to be covered in eggs. I couldn't risk all those future tomato munchers being released into the world, so after their photo-op, everyone got dunked in the jar of alcohol normally reserved for ticks that hitch a ride on us or the dogs. (Note: I've just been informed that these were not hornworm eggs but rather the cocoons of a parasitic wasp. I should not have killed them--they're a beneficial. Next time I'll know to let the wasps develop so they can kill more hornworms).

Although this last pest has not really been an issue for us, I couldn't resist this perennial problem child when I saw it newly-emerged on Old Creaky: